Canadian progress in Afghanistan.

Owen Sound Sun Times

Canadians would be proud of what's done in their name in Afghanistan - if they really knew

The Afghan war is not one conflict but three: a guerrilla war, a development war and a communications war. Canada is gaining ground in the first and slowly winning the second.

We’re losing the third.

The tragedy is that this truth is extraordinary. It’s a story of courage and grit and idealism that, if more Canadians only knew it, would make them very proud. But most don’t know it, because the people best positioned to tell it have been gagged.

I came back to Afghanistan to find answers to two questions. Is Canada’s deployment here still worthwhile, despite the rising toll in lives? And if it is, then why do so many people back home think it isn’t?

In the past week I’ve spoken to dozens of Canadian soldiers, non-governmental aid workers and Afghans, including some who are very critical of the U.S.-led international effort here and of the Karzai regime. Their message was unanimous: Please, Canada, don’t go.

Our country has an influence and a reputation here that are vastly disproportionate to the number of troops we have on the ground.

You may have heard that, around the world, no one can tell Canadians and Americans apart any longer. That is false. (nice backhand - 1rt) In Afghanistan, everyone knows the difference. Canadians are leaders here in the delicate trick of combining military power with aid. Other nations in the 37-member international coalition come to our Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City to study our methods.

The media? We’re at fault too. Reporters driven by competition and the demands of editors back home, are hell-bent on covering Canadians in combat. That’s a good thing, as far as it goes. Canadians need a public witness to the exercise of lethal force by their representatives abroad. Combat stories are dramatic and gripping and the tales we hear about soldiers at war can inspire and move us the way few other stories can.

But let’s face it: The entire mission stands or falls on whether development can succeed. For media organizations to ignore the tangible evidence of progress simply because these stories aren’t as dramatic as combat, beggars belief. But the evidence here suggests this is precisely what’s happening. The irony is that the military itself is supporting the journalists embedded at Kandahar Airfield.

Here’s why all this matters so much: The Taliban are not fighting a conventional guerrilla war. All their efforts are geared towards forcing Western governments to pull their soldiers out of Afghanistan. So they’re fighting a media war, designed to stimulate anguished coverage in Western capitals, which then creates political pressure for a pullout.

Every suicide bombing and IED attack must be seen in this light. It’s about hurting Western troops, but it’s even more about causing fear and uncertainty back home. This is why there’s such frustration among soldiers here about the posturing and chest-beating in Ottawa each time a Canadian dies in combat. Each cluster of front-page stories is, in effect, a tactical victory for the insurgents. That’s a hard truth for any journalist to swallow, but it is true nevertheless.

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